VENTURA, IA – Severe weather disasters are not something towns and cities anticipate happening often, but they are events we need to be prepared for.

There is an example of a shelter in our area built to withstand the same amount of force as the EF 5 tornado that swept through Oklahoma on Monday.

The shelter in Ventura doubles as a community center throughout the year and can take winds up to 250 miles per hour.

Town officials say having that type of shelter in a central location makes is easy for locals and even tourists to reach when there’s little time to get to safety.

Ventura City Clerk, Else Taylor said, ” We once had a bus load of students that were traveling to a sporting event, they stayed here for 2 or 3 hours . We have people that come out from the country who don’t have basements, they don’t feel safe during a severe thunder storm.”

One of the unique features Else points out is that the doors are hooked up to a transmitter, so as soon as the sirens go off, they immediately unlock. That helps make the evacuation process as smooth as possible.